So...we get to Las Vegas at about noon, but we couldn't check into our hotel until two. So we decided to go pick up our tickets to see where we would be sitting. It was slightly embarrassing, because none of us were looking too hot. We'd been in the car for eight hours, and I for one, had gotten a max of three hours of sleep. Half of us were in pajamas, so we'd be comfortable for the drive, none of us had washed our faces, much less put on makeup. I wasn't even wearing deodorant. But I was so happy, because I was going to see the Monkees!
Our seats were on the aisle of row D. Not bad at all! So we get our tickets and start wandering around the casino for the heck of it. Candace said to me, "Callie, I keep seeing all of these posters for the concert, and they all say that it's the final tour. I have an extra $50 and I'm so tempted to get tickets for the 10:30 show as well." I was having similar thoughts, so we took my mom with us to go get more tickets. The lady said that she did indeed have extra tickets and then said that they were first and second row. Then (get this) she asked if that was okay with us! OH MY GOSH!
My mom asked if we could exchange our 8:00 tickets for 10:30 ones, so that my sisters could be front row as well. The lady said that that would be fine, so I ran to find my dad and get the tickets from him. Candace and I ended up keeping our aisle Row D seats for 8:00, and then we got everyone front row seats for the 10:30 show (except my parents, cause they weren't going to go to any show to begin with). Candace and I would be front row, stage right, and our sisters were front row, stage left. So we'd be separated from the Monkee Girls (in case I didn't tell someone, I came up with the clever idea of making Monkee Men costumes for the girls to wear so we'd be noticed!), but we would still be front row.
Anyway, the hours passed incredibly slowly. We got to the hotel and showered and beautified ourselves as much as possible. I was still going on three hours of sleep. Candace had taken a bit of a nap at the hotel, but I was way too excited to sleep. At five o'clock we went to a buffet for dinner. As we were walking into the casino/hotel/restaurant, guess what was playing over the speakers! The Monkee Theme Song! We were so happy! This wasn't even MGM Grand, which is where the concert was. We figured we were destined to eat there.
Blah blah blah...we eat and go look at some of the little attractions along the strip, trying to pass time. At 6:45 Candace and I headed towards MGM, while the others went to see the Pirate ship show. They were going to see more stuff, and then change into their costumes and meet us at the theater. So Candace and I go to the theater. It's set up with tables, so row D was actually a lot farther back than you would have imagined. We could still see alright, but there was no way the guys would have seen us. We were SO happy we had gotten those other tickets as well.
I was looking at the stage, and all the stage hands walking around, and I noticed someone. He was off stage, but since we were clear to the right of the theater, we could still see him. I leaned over to Candace and said, "Is it just me, or is that Peter?" She looks, and says that it is! So now we're all happy and shaky and giggly. Then we see Micky too! We didn't see them really well, cause they were in the dark. But we could tell it was them.
Before the show started, Candace had to run to the bathroom again (for the third time in half an hour!). Then I started getting light headed. I felt like I was gonna pass out! I told Candace not to let them drag me away if I collapsed!
The show started with Natural. They were really good! And cute! They sang two songs while playing their instruments, then they did an a capella medley of In The Middle Of The Night and For the Longest Time. Then they sang another of their songs, while dancing. Oh my! They were awesome.
But then, THE MONKEES CAME OUT!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!! They did the Monkee walk, and Last Train to Clarksville started. I was dying. It was unreal! I screamed and screamed. I knew they couldn't see me, and probably couldn't hear me, but I couldn't contain my happiness! Candace just kind of sat there, letting it all soak in. She wanted to save her energy for the second concert. I eventually calmed down and did the same thing.
They skipped out on a lot of songs. I guess if they have two shows in one night, they make them shorter. So I didn't get to hear Peter sing Can You Dig It, which really bummed me out, since that's my favorite song of his. Oh well.
During the concert, Micky pointed out to the audience at a guy and said, "How ya doin' Paul? That's Paul, everyone. He's our biggest fan." Peter and Davy agreed, saying he was a super fan.
We'll skip on now to the little break before the second concert. Candace and I went out into the casino and found our sisters. They were in their costumes, and looked great! Then Candace and I started looking at stuff to buy. The guy in charge of the merchandise came and spoke with the two of us. He liked our shirts! (Once again, in case I forgot to mention it to someone, we had made matching blue shirts that said, "The Next Generation With Something To Say".) I pointed out the girls to him. I told him the goal was to get the `M's on their shirts signed. I was hoping he'd say something like, "Oh, go to this door after the concert. That's where they come out from." But all he said was, "You never know!"
So we buy a whole bunch of the $5 pictures and some stuffed monkeys, and then go to give them to our sisters. They are talking to a man that's wearing all kinds of Monkee stuff. Amy looks at me and says, "He has backstage passes, Callie!!" I was so jealous! But guess what! This guy was Paul! The number one fan! He was telling us how he knew them. He's a total groupie. He goes all over to see their shows, whether they're solo shows or group ones. All the Monkees know him! We talked to him for almost an hour. He was really nice! His friend (an Australian lady that was good friends with Davy) was with him, and she gave us business cards. She's president of a Monkees fan club. They were both awesome people.
The time came to go into the theater. We followed Paul in. He stopped in the aisle to show his ticket to an usher. Right to his left was this guy in a colorful Hawaiian shirt, talking to the head usher. The bright shirt guy says hi to Paul, then looks at the Monkee girls and says, "What is this?"
I said, "They're Monkee Men! Or Women. Whatever." I almost said, "Haven't you ever seen any episodes!?!?" But I'm glad I didn't. Wouldn't want to annoy this man. Because he turned to the head usher and said, "Let these girls backstage after the show."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
So the usher hands me a notepad and pen and I write our names down, so he'll know to let us back. Paul is all excited. He's jumping up and down! We all go take our seats and try to be patient. Candace and I had a much easier time of it, since we knew what to expect. But we were still so stoked, because we were right AT the stage. There wasn't an aisle in between the stage and the first row of tables. I had my knees touching the stage, and I could lean forward and put my arms on it! It was hard to stay seated though, because we knew that we would be RIGHT there, and that Micky was on our side of the stage, and that Peter came over to it quite a bit, and that we would meet them afterwards!!!
Oh! I have to tell you about the lady that was sitting on my left. She was so cool! She's a first generation fan, and was acting like a 12-year-old! We had a blast!
Natural came out, and it was a lot more fun than before, because I made eye contact with every single one of them. They were smiling at me! I leaned over to Candace to say that one in particular was really cute, and he saw me telling her! When they did the dance part, he and another one of the guys was right in front of me for the pelvic thrust! One of the guys started introducing the a capella part, and I screamed, "BRING IT ON!!" Because I liked it so much! He looked over at me and grinned, then said into the mic, laughing, "She said `Bring it on!" I felt kind of dumb. But they ALL LOOKED AT! Joy!
But yadda yadda yadda. The Monkees come out. They're doing the Monkee walk, and Peter looks over at our sisters, who are on their feet screaming, and points them out to the other two! Since he was on their side of the stage, he was making faces at them the whole time! It was SO cute! Me and the lady next to me (who we will call The Lady) stood up and were cheering so loud!! Micky was right there!! His mic stand was no more than five feet away from us!
When they brought out the timpani drums for Randy Scouse Git, we were going crazy! You should have seen my sisters! Micky sure did! He mentioned that back in the 60' he had been to a party with the Beatles. Our sisters went crazy at the mention of the Beatles. Micky looked over at them and grinned. Then he looked at the rest of the audience and said, "Watch this." He looked back at our sisters and said, "Cucumber!" They screamed so loud! The guys were laughing at them! Peter gave them this adorable look and said, "You guys are such suckers!"
Then Peter did Auntie Grizelda! He was doing this dance all around the edge of the stage. The lady and I jumped up and were screaming! She started motioning for him to come closer to us, and he just smiled and motioned right back to her. We laughed.
Oh, so much eye contact with Micky! He would smile at us, and wink at us. The lady and I were reaching up every time any of the guys came close to us. Micky was such a tease! He'd reach his hand out to touch ours, and then pull it away last minute. He was so cute! All of the guys were so funny! The lady and I kept looking at each other and laughing.
OH! During Steppin' Stone, Micky came over to us. He'd been looking at Candace and I an awful lot. And giving us the most wonderful grins! So anyway, he comes over, and gets all close to me, and points right at me! I don't remember what line he was singing, but he was pointing right at me, smiling! He was so close! I reached my hand out, and he started backing away! But he had the cutest mischievous look on his face! He was teasing me on purpose! Oh, the look on his face! It was a classic Micky expression! I put my hand back down and grinned at him like, "Just you wait, Micky Dolenz!" He smiled, and went on to another section.
Poor Peter was sick. He kept having to wipe his nose. Occasionally he'd cough in the middle of a song. I felt bad for him! And I was afraid that he wouldn't come backstage to meet us all!
There were all kinds of other really cool parts! Micky sang this awesome blues song called Since I Fell For You. He had the most perfect voice for it! He did a wonderful job on it! Before he sang it though, he was talking about how his parents were singers too. He sang a little bit on Some Enchanted Evening, because that was his dad's kind of thing. A girl threw a rose at him and it hit him on the leg. He looked down at it, then picked it up, and put it in his mouth and continued singing a few lines from the song.
Some one ran up and threw three pairs of underwear on the stage! That was funny.
Davy was giving an intro to I Wanna Be Free, talking about how girls used to like boys and boys used to like girls, and the only one that swung both ways was Tarzan. Candace shouted, "He gets more girls that way!!" It was so funny! Davy didn't hear her, but the people around us were all cracking up!
I have never had so much fun in my entire life! I was dancing, screaming...You can't imagine the joy! I was SO close to all of them! After the last song (Pleasant Valley Sunday) they walked around the stage grabbing people's hands. Before that, the only one that touched anyone's hands was Davy, and that was mostly our sisters. But Micky came straight over to Candace and I and grabbed our hands. He didn't just brush fingertips. He grabbed our hands and shook them. He looked at Candace and said "Thank you!" She had been yelling, "We/I love you Micky!" through the whole show. She was freaking out! He looked right at her and said thank you! He looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. But it was so great, because he held our hands!
Then Peter came over. We reached out our hands, and he reached his out, but then turned away really quickly and coughed. Candace and I looked at each other and said, "Poor Peter!" He was so sick!! But he turned back and took our hands. Sure, he had just coughed into them, but it was Peter germs! That made it alright.
Then Davy came. The lady next to me started freaking out! He opened his arms wide, came right at her, and gave her a big huge hug. She was so happy, she started screaming. He pulled away and held his ear. Ouch. She was RIGHT in his ear. It was funny, but he didn't make it to me, because he was rubbing his ear for so long. Then they all got together and walked away.
And so the concert ended, and it was time for backstage!!!!!
We get to the security guard (and he has the notebook paper with our names on it). He said that he was looking for 6 girls. I said that that was us, and then Katie said, "Can we bring our friends?" They had made friends with the girls that threw the rose at Micky. Actually, the girls had made friends with THEM. Wouldn't you? Those Monkee Girls got so much attention during the concert, it wasn't funny! It was, but, you know. I was kind of bummed, because I was supposed to be sitting next to them, getting all of the attention WITH them. But Micky gave Candace and I plenty of attention. :)
The security guard said that he couldn't let them back without a pass. Then the Hawaiian shirt guy came through the door. He said, "Monkee Girls only!" I said, "And sisters! Our names are on the paper!" So we ran through. Somehow, those two other girls managed to sneak past as well. The manager stopped us before we got to the back room. He said, "Monkee Girls, you have to be calm. No screaming or running or attacking. One peep, and you're leaving." I knew our sisters would be cool.
We got into the room, and Paul was there. He jumped up to greet us. We were all so happy to be there, and he was genuinely happy that we were able to go back. We all kind of sat around for a little bit. Paul warned us that they might not come back. He said sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I was starting to get a little worried. But then someone said, "Here comes Peter!"
Peter? My beloved Peter Tork? Coming into the same room as me? Sure, we were in the same room at the concert, and he had looked right at me several times, but now he was going to come in and I was going to be able to talk to him!!
He looked GOOD. Peter is quite a looker for a 59-year-old. He had on a black turtleneck and black jeans. And he still wears the belt off to the side! He walked into the room, saw our sisters, and stopped. He got this huge grin on his face and said, "MONKEE MEN!" Then he proceeded to tell the whole room about how there were a couple episodes where they dressed up as super heroes and said, "This looks like a job for...Monkee Men!", and that the girls were wearing costumes JUST like them. He walked right over to us and started signing autographs. I asked if I could get a picture of him with my sisters, and he said, "Sure!" He really liked the costumes. As they were getting together to pose I was telling about how we used the CD ROM clips to make them look as real as possible. I was mentioning that the belts were made out of masking tape, but then I realized that I was rambling and he didn�t really care, so I shut up and took the picture. But Peter was cool. We got a pic of him with Candace and I as well.
He said hi to some other people too. Then he saw Paul. "Hey Paul! Didn't they tell you you could come back here after the first concert too?" Paul shook his head. "They just gave me backstage passes for this one." Peter looked towards the door and said, "Those IDIOTS!" He was so cute! He sat on the arm of a chair, and some girls asked him if they were going to do a summer tour. He said yes! I heard it from his own mouth! They ARE touring in the summer! Then the annoying girls asked if the Monkees would be going to the Bay area. He said, "Probably not. The Bay area doesn't like us." The girls said, "We LOVE you!" He laughed. "Yes, but it doesn't matter. I mean, it DOES matter, but six people aren't enough to get us booked." She said, "But we have friends!" He laughed again. "Okay, but eight people aren't enough either."
Then my sisters said that they should come to Utah. You should have seen the look on his face! Total shock. "Utah," he said. "Utah doesn't like us either. We're not Mormon!" We laughed really hard and told him that that was ok, we didn't really care. Then he asked how many of us were Mormon. All six of us raised our hands. I didn't hear what he said to that, though.
It was so cool sitting there, chatting with Peter. It was never a one on one conversation. I mostly just sat there and listened and watched. He's so cool! Eventually he got up to go. He looked around at everyone and said, "Did everyone get everything they wanted?" One lady said, "Yes! I need a picture!" He looked at her and said, "So, you got what you wanted, but you need a picture?" She said, "Yes, I need a picture." Peter looked really confused (but of course, he was just playing) and said, "Which is it? Did you get everything, or do you need a picture?" She said, "Yes, I got everything, but I need a picture!"
So Peter went on for a little more, trying to get her to say that she DIDN'T get everything she wanted, because she needed a picture. While he was taking a pic with her, Paul came over to us and told us that Peter doesn't like getting pictures taken, because the flash hurts his eyes. But he was so cool about getting pictures with everyone that wanted one! What a great guy!
After Peter left we sat around for another minute or two, and someone said, "Davy and Micky aren't coming. Everyone needs to leave."
NO! How could this be? Peter was so sick, and yet he came! Why didn't Davy and Micky? I was so depressed! Peter is my favorite Monkee, but Micky is so close behind, it's practically a tie. And he would have recognized Candace and I! Peter was mostly talking to the Monkee Girls, because they were on his side, and he saw them the most. But Micky was on OUR side, and would have seen us, and talked to us! I was so upset!
But I think he was tired and ornery. I noticed during the concert, while Peter was doing his Bach keyboard solo, that Micky was getting annoyed with a stagehand. The guy was supposed to be bringing a mic stand out onto the stage, and he wasn't. Micky and Davy were sitting on the drum stand while Peter played, but the Micky stood up and started looking off stage. I couldn't see what he was looking at, but he was very annoyed. He was gesturing for someone to "Come on!" He stayed quiet, but he mouthed it, and his gestures were very angry looking. Heck, his face was very angry looking! Don't get on Micky's bad side. :)
And then I think it was just getting really late. Porpoise Song was near the end of the show and I noticed Davy looking down at his watch. They were all probably really tired.
Oh well. I got to go backstage and meet Peter! Why should I be upset? I'm so lucky! And it was a great show, and I had a ton of fun. I'm going to be on a high for years to come!